Hamlets

Hamlets are a diverse group of fish in the sea bass family. Some of them are ornately patterned, but they all seem just a bit curious, and will allow divers to approach them, slowly. They are territorial, and remain near the bottom or near reef structures.

The bottom photo is a Yellowtail Hamlet.

The middle photo is a Butter Hamlet.

The top photo is a Barred Hamlet, the most common hamlet in the Caribbean.

Nuclear feeding

We frequently encounter groups of fish that are engaged in nuclear feeding. Often an eel is the focal point of the group. While they are foraging, eels can chase small fish and invertebrates (prey species) from their safe hiding spots. As the prey flees the eel, many other fish who are following the eel have the opportunity for an easy fast-food meal.

The eel in today's nuclear feeding assemblage is the Sharptail Eel, a rather small eel, at about 2 feet. In the bottom photo, a Sharptail Eel is shown alone.

In the upper two photos, the feeding assemblage above the eel includes 5 other species: Bar Jack, Spanish Hogfish, Schoolmaster, Trumpetfish, and Graysby.

Spotted Eagle Ray

The Spotted Eagle Ray is a rather majestic fish. Always a joy to see, but especially when they are flying through the water. Although the species can get up to 8 feet, this one had a wingspan of only about 4 feet. They feed on mollusks in the sand, which is where we often see them. This fish had a misshapen tail, as can be seen in the bottom photo. However, a few minutes later, the same fish looked rather normal in the top photo.

Trumpetfish

Trumpetfish have long, thin bodies, and a remarkable variety of color variations. Silvery, with reddish brown tones, is one of the more frequently encountered colors. We often encounter them with blue heads, and also with yellow heads. Sometimes, we see trumpetfish that appear virtually all yellow. As predators, trumpetfish change their color and posture to blend in with the background. They hide vertically in soft corals and rope sponges, and horizontally behind larger fish. They are quite amazing to watch. But it's hard to understand how drifting head down, in a vertical position in midwater, camouflages them to any potential prey. It must work, or they wouldn't do it.

Most of the trumpetfish we see are 1.5 to 2.5 feet long. The above photos display some of their color variations.

Queen Parrotfish

Parrotfish play an important role in the ecology of coral reef communities. Feeding largely as herbivores, they graze algae off corals and reef structures, limiting algae overgrowth. Fortunately, on Bonaire's reefs, parrotfish are both abundant and diverse.

Here, Queen Parrotfish are frequently encountered, in two colorphases, a gray and white initial phase (bottom two photos), and the colorful terminal phase (top photo). These individuals were 12 to 18 inches long. Their parrot-like beak can be seen in the bottom photo.

Fairy Basslets

A beautiful, almost luminous, colorful fish, Fairy Basslets brighten any dive. They are usually 1.5 to 2.5 inches long, and are closely associated with reef structures. They more often appear upside down or vertical than horizontal. And they may retreat from sight when approached. But after a bit, they reappear. Definitely worth taking a close look at. A charming fish with an enchanting name.

Spiny Lobster

On several dives, we have found Caribbean Spiny Lobster. Most of the time, they are rather well hidden in crevasses or under ledges on the reef. In which case, the only thing that we can easily see is their antennae sticking out. Basically, they forage by night and hide during the day. In the case of this lobster, I got to see much of it, as it moved backward, into a deeper recess of the reef. It was about 12 inches long. They are quite edible, but this one lived to see another day.

Reef Squid

Today we had the pleasure of encountering 2 groups of Caribbean Reef Squid on our dive. Each group was composed of 3 individuals. Two squid in the first group were about 10 to 12 inches long, and one was quite a bit smaller, at about 6 inches. Despite their size differences, they moved gracefully together, like synchronized swimmers. Squid are often very curious, and will hang around to watch and approach divers who are calmly watching them. They are capable of changing color rapidly, and may use coloration changes to communicate with other squid.

The bottom photo shows the little squid with one of the larger squid in its group. The middle two photos are close-ups of one large squid and the little squid.

The top photo shows the approachable second group of squid. They were similarly sized, at 10 to 12 inches.

Black Margate

One large fish that we occasionally encounter in schools or aggregations during the day is the Black Margate (a member of the drum family). They are 1.5 to 2 feet in length, and seem to calmly pass the day, clumped together, waiting for night fall when they presumably feed. The security that they find in numbers is occasionally joined by individuals of other species.

If you look closely in the bottom and middle photo, one odd fish appears. When the school split in two, the odd fish popped out. It was a Gray Snapper (top photo).

Great Barracuda

We have encountered several great barracuda on our dives, and they have been pretty calm, mostly just watching us, watching them. Although the species can reach 5 or 6 feet, the biggest barracuda that I have seen in Bonaire was closer to 4 feet. They are really beautiful fish, even though they occasionally seem a little intimidating, sometimes following divers.

Filefish

Earlier, I posted photos of white-spotted filefish. Two other filefish species that we see fairly often are the orange-spotted filefish (botttom photo) and the scrawled filefish (top photo). The orange-spotted rarely reaches 8 inches, but the scrawled filefish grows to more than 2 feet in length. All filefish are pretty flat, like angelfish. In the above photos, neither of the fish has its file (the first dorsal fin) up.

Web Burrfish

Today we found a web burrfish out in the open. This species is related to the porcupinefish, and will inflate if molested. When I tried to photograph it, it swam slowly away. I tried to get ahead of it, and it kept turning. So I decided to stop, and then the fish stopped. Eventually, it let me move along side it, and take photos from several perspectives. Quite an interesting fish.

More shrimp

On our dives, we frequently encounter banded coral shrimp (bottom photo). They are cleaner shrimp that wave their antennae to attract fish to clean. They are pretty easy to spot, near ledges or recesses in the reef, because they are 1.5 to 2 inches long.

The other species, the squat anemone shrimp (top photo), requires more work to locate. They live in association with sea anemones, ranging from 0.25 to 0.75 inches in length. I frequently stop to examine anemones, hoping to find these. They are not reported to act as cleaner shrimp.

Puddingwife

The Puddingwife is a species of wrasse that occurs from Florida to Brazil. Wrasses are a varied group of fish that are characterized by their big lips. Bonairean reefs are home to wrasses of many different colors. The puddingwife wrasse has striking markings, that can be seen in the center of these photos. These fish were about 12 inches long, and display the initial phase of coloring. (The other fish are yellow goatfish.)

I tried to discover the story behind their name, but couldn't find anything.

Spanish lobster

Today, I had the great fortune of finding a Spanish lobster, out in the open. Normally, they hide in dark recesses of the reef during the day, and only come out in the open at night, to forage. I'm not sure why this one was out, but it was great to see. This species is a type of slipper lobster, and lacks the big claws of an American lobster or the long antennae of a spiny lobster. The blue antennules are used for chemo-reception. Each photo shows the antennules in a different postion. Lobster detect food using chemical cues in the water. This lobster was about 10 inches long.

Spotted drum stages

One of the fishes that we occasionally find the early-juvenile stage of is the Spotted Drum. Soon after they have settled out of the plankton, the appearance of the tiny early juveniles is dominated by an extremely long front dorsal fin. At this stage, they are about 3/4 in long (Bottom photo).

Their coloration remains the same for a while, as they grow. And they start looking more like fish. The juvenile in the middle photo is a little over 2 inches long and almost 2 inches high.

As adults, they grow into their once over-sized dorsal fins, and develop their spots. They can reach 8 or 10 inches in length (top photo).

Cleaner shrimp

Finding cleaning stations on the reef is always a treat. They are much easier to find when a fish is "parked" there, getting cleaned, assuming some atypical posture, like standing on its head, or motionless, with its mouth wide-open. Many times, the cleaners are fish, but Bonairean reefs have lots of cleaner shrimp as well.

Today, I was able to photograph two of the smallest cleaner shrimp: the Spotted Cleaner Shrimp (bottom 2 photos) and the Pederson Cleaner Shrimp (top 2 photos). Both species live in association with sea anemones. They perch on the anemone's tentacles, and wave their antennae to attract fish to clean. Both of these shrimp are about 3/4 inch in length.

Double click on the images to enlarge the shrimp.